09.04 - Foreign assets and liabilities, foreign ownership interests
Annual statistics on stocks, transactions and returns. Preliminary figures (with no country or industry breakdowns) are also included for transactions in the quarterly balance of payments and for stocks in the international investment position.
National level. Foreign countries are divided into countries and country groups.
940 - Division for Financial Markets Statistics
Statistics Norway’s data collection from the reporters is based on the Statistics Act § 2-2 and § 3-2.
Regulation (EC) No. 184/2005 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 January 2005 on Community statistics concerning balance of payments, international trade in services and foreign direct investment, which entered into force on 11 June 2005.
The statistics are compiled in line with recommendations by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as stipulated in “The Balance of Payments Manual, 5th edition” (BPM5) 1993. Definitions and principles in this manual are in accordance with corresponding rules for the specification of the national accounts, as provided in the manual ”System of National Accounts 1993”(SNA93), which is jointly published by a number of international organisations, including the UN. The EU has drawn up a separate version (ESA95), which covers special conditions in the member countries. Norway has an obligation to adhere to this manual in line with the EEA agreement. Additionally, the OECD has more detailed recommendations on principles and definitions in the statistics on direct investments. These are given in the form of the OECD Benchmark Definition of Foreign Direct Investment.
Reports to Eurostat, the OECD, IMF and UNCTAD
The purpose is to provide an overview of Norwegian direct investments abroad (outgoing investments) and foreign direct investments in Norway (incoming investments), both in the form of stocks, transactions and returns. Stock figures are published annually, preliminary figures are published in the international investment position and final figures are published in special detailed statistics. Preliminary return and transaction figures are published on a quarterly basis in the balance of payments, while more detailed figures are published in annual special statistics, with the returns together with the stocks. Statistics on stocks have been compiled every year since 1989, while special statistics on transactions (broken down by country and industry) date back to 1993. However, the balance of payments shows transactions in direct investments (with no country or industry breakdown) dating back to 1981. For normal use, only figures that are published on Statistics Norway's website are available, cf. the reference to availability in point 7.
Figures on direct investments are included in the balance of payments (transactions) and international investment position (stocks). However, the reference here mainly applies to the annual special statistics on direct investments, broken down by country and industry.
Users are authorities, industry and commerce, embassies, educational establishments and research institutions etc. There is also extensive international reporting on data for direct investments, particularly to the OECD and the EU’s statistics agency EUROSTAT.
The statistics on direct investments abroad cover, in principle, all Norwegian institutional sectors, but non-financial enterprises in this context is the most important sector by a wide margin. Consequently, the data collection system for this sector is optimally prepared to intercept direct investments. Until the publishing in 2006 the figures on stocks of direct investments abroad (the special statistics) included both direct and indirect equity in the investment objects. Since the publishing in 2007, the equity has been limited to directly owned/associated enterprises. Other capital (mainly loans), however, still includes all direct relations between Norwegian investors and directly and indirectly owned/associated enterprises abroad. However, the source for other capital is now Reporting balance of payments data (BoP reporting) instead of the separate collection of data for direct investments. This has resulted in the scope of other capital being extended to include loans between fellow companies. All of these changes have been dated back to 1998. There were therefore major revisions for the figures during the period 1998-2006. The changes also mean that there will be consistency in the methodology between the stock statistics on Norwegian direct investments abroad and foreign direct investments in Norway. Additionally, the correspondence of detailed special statistics with direct investments in the international investment position (IIP) was also improved.
Stock figures
The basis for statistics on stocks of direct investments abroad is Statistics Norway’s own collection of reports on investments abroad from 2007, supplemented with information from the Reporting balance of payments data (BoP reporting). (Prior to 2007, the statistics were based on the annual reports of international activity to the Directorate of Taxes.) The reports provide information on the foreign enterprises that the Norwegian enterprise owns or is associated with, including accounting information on annual financial results and equity, while the BoP reporting provides information on other capital and returns. Statistics on foreign investments in Norway are compiled on the basis of the said BoP reporting. Information in the annual accounts submitted to the Register of Company Accounts in Brønnøysund, the media, Internet etc. is also used to map changes in direct investments abroad or in Norway.
Transaction figures
The source for both outgoing and incoming transactions is the BoP reporting and other sources for the collection or calculation of transactions in the balance of payments.
The statistics on stocks abroad were in principle a full count up to 2007, as long as the reports of international activity to the Directorate of Taxes was the main source. Since 2007, the statistics have been based on cut-off sampling, which covers at least 95 per cent of the Norwegian investments abroad in accordance with the international reporting. The sampling in 2007 consisted of around 230 Norwegian units that made investments in 2006 in approximately 2 300 foreign units. Figures for Norwegian households' investments in holiday homes abroad were also calculated.
The statistics on foreign stocks in Norway are based on the year’s BOP reporting of non-financial enterprises supplemented with data for financial enterprises that are not included in the BOP reporting survey. The statistics in 2007 covered approximately 1 350 Norwegian enterprises. Figures for foreign investments in holiday homes in Norway has also been calculated and included.
The transaction figures are based on the balance of payment figures, but broken down by country according to the year’s BOP reporting and other sources.
The statistics on direct investments are mainly based on data capture under the provisions of the Statistics Act, and as further defined in the BoP reporting and the reporting of investments abroad.
Statistics on Foreign Direct Investment is based on Statistics Norway’s own collection of reports on investments abroad and the BoP reporting system.
The data collected is to a large extent compared to information from the annual accounts submitted to the Register of Company Accounts in Brønnøysund.
The stock statistics are as close to full counts that no method has so far been established for inflating to population level. The transaction statistics, however, are based to a large extent on the quarterly sampling in international transactions, and the figures here will be weighted to the year’s sampling level when this is done for the rest of the balance of payments.
Figures are not published in the event that less than three units form a cell in the table, since this would lead to the risk of identification, i.e. the figures could be traced back to the respondent. This also applies where there are more than three units if one of the respondents is so big that it can actually be identified.
A direct investment is an investment beyond country borders where the investor plans to establish a long-term economic connection and exercise effective influence on the operation in an investment object. This definition is in line with international guidelines in this area. Since the data capture is based on accounts information, 20 per cent ownership is applied as the limit for distinguishing between direct investments and portfolio investments. (International statistics recommendations give a 10 per cent limit.) Directly invested capital covers investors' share of contributions and acquired equity in the investment object as well as investors' assets and liabilities with regard to the investment object. Other asset and liability relations between companies in the same group are also included in directly invested capital, e.g. loans between Norwegian and foreign fellow companies. Reinvested profits cover investors' share of the annual profit after taxes, minus the dividend allocated to the investor. The object distribution in the balance of payments is limited to share capital, reinvested profits and other capital (mainly loans). These classifications are also used in the detailed special statistics on direct investments, apart from in the stocks statistics, where reinvested profit is included in the share capital/equity.
The industry classification is in line with the revised Norwegian Standard industrial classification (SIC94), which is based on the EU’s industry standard NACE Rev. 1 and the UN’s industry standard ISIC Rev. 3. Limited companies with operations in a number of industries are, in principle, classified according to the operation that makes the largest contribution to the company’s total value added. Further details of SIC94 are given in the publication NOS Standard industrial classification (C 182) and on Statistics Norway’s website at Standard Industrial Classification
The quality of the statistics is affected by the register basis for data collection, as well as the quality of the data that is reported. Respondents can sometimes make errors when completing forms, and Statistics Norway's processing of the data during registration can lead to errors. Errors in this connection can include using the wrong scale, e.g. NOK instead of NOK 1 000, as well as incorrect evaluations.
Statistics on direct investments are based on Statistics Norway’s own data collections. The BoP reporting, which is the source for the transaction statistics, the stock statistics on incoming investments and other capital in the stock statistics on outgoing investments, is an established data source with a compulsory fine in the event of a reporting obligation not being met. The stock statistics for Norwegian direct investments abroad were more affected by respondents dropping out prior to 2007 since the Directorate of Taxes could not use the reporting to control taxes and did not therefore send out reminders for non-responses. In the new reporting from 2007, reminders and compulsory fines are sent in line with the provisions of the Statistics Act (see also point 3.2 Data sources). Units can sometimes fail to meet their reporting obligation, but all of the important units are included in the statistics.
The parts of the statistics on direct investments that are based on the BoP reporting mainly have the same weaknesses with regard to population updating and drawing samples as international transactions. This particularly affects the transaction statistics that are based on the same source as the balance of payments, i.e. the limited quarterly sampling in international transactions supplemented with information on geographic distribution in the year's sampling in international transactions. When balance of payments based on the year's BOP reporting is established this will also be the source of the transaction statistics for direct investments.
The geographic distribution in the transaction statistics is based on a pro rata breakdown in line with the geographic distribution of the stocks in the year’s sampling in the BoP reporting. This results in uncertainty with regard to the breakdown by country.
Stock figures
As mentioned in point 3.1, major breaks occurred in the statistics on stocks of direct investments abroad from 1998, and reference is made to this.
Until 2003, the stock figures for incoming direct investments were solely based on surveys conducted by Norges Bank. Since 2004, the stock figures have in principle been based on the BoP reporting, but with the addition of accounting data from the Register of Company Accounts in Brønnøysund.
Transaction figures
Until 2004, transaction figures for direct investments were solely based on reporting to Norges Bank. The data basis was the banks’ reporting of international transactions for customers (the Bravo reporting) and direct reports from the enterprises in the form of account relations with non-residents. Since 2004, the basis for the transaction figures has been based on the BoP reporting, which is a sample survey.
Break in statistics
The use of new data sources and calculation methods resulted in a break in the statistics, as discussed above.
Stock figures
Stock statistics for direct investments are included in the International investment position (IIP), but the latter is solely based on the BoP reporting both for incoming and outgoing stocks. Reinvested profit is also included in the operational and financial accounts in the balance of payments. Income from interest and share dividends are included in the current account, but no distinction is made between returns on direct investments and portfolio investments.
Transaction figures
The transaction statistics are consistent with the balance of payments’ financial accounts at the time of publishing.
Coherence with enterprises’ accounts and accounts analysis
It should be noted that the annual surveys are not aimed at providing incoming profitability assessments on the enterprises that are included in the figures. A complete profitability analysis can cover other accounting data as well as further explanations of internal conditions in the individual enterprises that are not expressed in the account results. The sole intention of the surveys is to provide certain macro data for use in official statistics.
7.1. Publications and other links The statistics on direct investments in Norway and abroad are primarily published on Statistics Norway’s website (www.ssb.no) under the subject area 09National accounts and external trade. The special statistics for stocks of direct investments in Norway are published dating back to 1989, when the statistics were established. For corresponding Norwegian stocks abroad, the figures are published from 1998. The transaction statistics are published from 1993, while complete figures for returns were first compiled in 2004 in connection with establishing the new source Reporting of balance of payments for non-financial enterprises.
See also: StatBank
Raw data and revised microdata are stored in accordance with Statistics Norway’s standard for archiving files (DataDok). Microdata is stored for the same periods as the published data on Statistics Norway’s website, and is available for research purposes in line with Statistics Norway’s rules on the delivery of data for such purposes.
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